The Sabres finally give Rasmus Dahlin what he deserves

It’s official: Your captain of the 2024-25 Buffalo Sabres (and beyond) will be none other than fan favorite and superstar defenseman Rasmus Dahlin. Dahlin, having served as an alternate captain for two seasons, deserves the ‘C’ more than anyone else. 

And yes, I know a strong contingent of fans wanted it to be Alex Tuch, and he would have made a great captain, but it was Dahlin, not Tuch, who had been here in the trenches for an entire career. Tuch is a great player, and as a hometown boy, he’s also an obvious fan favorite, so it’s easy to understand the frustration from some fans. 

But as I implied yesterday, Dahlin is the best player on this team, not Tuch. I would call Tuch the second-best, even if Tage Thompson came back and enjoyed another career year reminiscent of what he had in 2022-23. Why? Simple. Tuch is a three-zone player, much in the same way as Dahlin, while Tage is more offensive-oriented. 

Still, you can’t name anyone else who takes a more passionate approach to the game than Dahlin, one of the few players around after this franchise landed in complete turmoil during the tumultuous 2020-21 season. 

Rasmus Dahlin deserves to be the Buffalo Sabres captain

Flashback to Rasmus Dahlin’s rookie season, and he got to see some success in the NHL early. It was November 2018 when the Sabres went on a historic winning streak, only to fall flat as the season progressed, and it remained that way until there was a glimmer of hope toward the end of the 2021-22 season. 

If you remember that stretch in March and April 2022, Dahlin went on an absolute tear and hasn’t looked back. So yeah, nobody on the Sabres was more deserving to wear the C than Dahlin, and as for Alex Tuch, he’ll be sporting an occasional A. 

I say occasional because the Blue and Gold will roll with not two but four alternate captains, with Tage Thompson, Dylan Cozens, and Mattias Samuelsson joining Tuch. And you couldn’t come up with a better rotation, as each of the players wearing the A has given a lot of value to Buffalo, especially during that 2022-23 season when they nearly made the playoffs. 

For some fans, team captains are nothing more than players who can formally interact with officials during games, and that’s fine. But if that was their only duty, then you may as well anoint the best public speaker on the team as opposed to the most respected leaders. That said, all five players are proven leaders and passionate players, and it’s why they’re all repping the Sabres as either the captain or alternate captains.